Bridgestone Cutting Jobs at OTR Plant

Bridgestone Americas Inc. is reducing the workforce at its OTR tire plant in Bloomington, Ill.

"Bridgestone regularly evaluates all aspects of its business to ensure it remains sustainable and competitive and to determine the best allocation of resources to support our business objectives," the company said in a statement. "Change has become a part of the normal operating rhythm of our business. 

"On Aug. 18, we notified local United Steelworkers (USW) leadership at our Bloomington, Illinois, Off the Road Tire Plant we will be implementing a workforce reduction to align capacity with demand in response to challenging conditions and market changes in the off the road tire markets. The premium market is shifting towards radial products. After a thorough review and analysis, the decision has been made to exit production of unprofitable tires. This will result in a reduction in workforce, which the company hopes to achieve through a voluntary program.

"This decision was made with great care and we will honor the commitment we made as part of our collective bargaining agreement for our USW-represented employees. The company is committed to helping to reduce the impact of its decision on affected employees in a variety of ways, including providing collectively bargained benefits to our union teammates and keeping teammates on the active payroll through the end of October.

"This decision is part of the company’s strategic initiatives to optimize its business footprint, strengthen its competitiveness and enhance the quality of the company’s North American operations. Bridgestone remains focused on strengthening and accelerating premium tire as our core business and solutions businesses as growth opportunities in alignment with our 24 Mid-Term Business Plan and 2030 Long-Term Strategic Aspiration."

The Bloomington plant has the capacity to produce 300 units per day, according to MTD research.